Style

Magic Realism

Magic Realism is a type of fantasy writing that comes across as realistic fiction. For example, in "Jeffty Is Five" the story revolves around a small boy who never grows up. The story is presented in a matter-of-fact style, proposing the oddity of this phenomenon but nonetheless telling the story as if it had actually occurred.

The term magic realism was first coined in the 1940s and usually referred to many Latin-American writers who used this dreamlike style in their writing. The most famous of these writers include Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabel Allende, and Jorge Luis Borges. Ellison admits his admiration of Borges' writing, and critics have aligned some of Ellison's writing style with Borges'. Magic realism differs from science fiction (a genre in which most of Ellison's writing is placed) in that it is not focused on real or imagined scientific discoveries, futuristic settings, space...